Going for project success is obvious, but how can we know if a project is headed to a failure? If we define that a project will fail if:

– It does not deliver what is needed and expected;
– Goes far out of budget and post-delivery cost;
– Will or cannot deliver on time.

Then the question is how to prevent this from happening. Plenty is available on best practices how to keep your projects on track, but preciously little on how to detect that a project may be headed to failure. One of useful resources I found is Letting Go: When Should You Cancel a Failing Project? The warning signs listed there are:

Poor or missing requirements: not being able to describe and decide what is needed.